Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By: Meg Foehl,  EC-SEAT Scholar and Graduate Student in Early Childhood Special Education; Early Childhood Teacher at   Live and Learn Early Learning Center . According to Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, children becoming more and more removed from nature, which is affecting their psychological and physical well being. Children today spend more time in structured activities and on electronic devices and less time engaged in unstructured play in nature.  Louv shares many studies that show that spending time in nature has tremendous health benefits.  Among these benefits are: increased fitness levels, improved concentration, reduced stress, as well as, improved vision. Studies also show that unstructured play in nature can help treat mental illness- particularly ADHD and depression.  Children who spend more time in nature develop increased coordination- especially in balance and agility, inventiveness, improved  intellectual devel...

Executive function skills develop through positive adult interactions and positive learning experiences early on in life and are entwined with emotional well-being (Blair & Diamond 2008, Florez, 2011). The Center on the Developing Child refers to executive functioning as, “the ability to hold onto and work with information, focus thinking, filter distractions, and switch gears…like an airport having a highly effective air traffic control system to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple runways,.” Executive functioning and self-regulation skills rely on: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control (Center on the Developing Child, 2011.).   Biologically the brain is prepared and expecting to be shaped by experience according to Dr. Jack Shonkoff at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Young children develop higher mental functions as they learn from others and their environment (Tools of the Mind, 2013). Specificall...